Bacteroidales T6SS minor Hcp subunits form heteromers recognising effectors

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a macromolecular protein complex found in Gram-negative bacteria that mediates intercellular antagonism. T6SSs are gut colonization factors that influence gut biodiversity. Hemolysin-coregulated proteins (Hcp) are major structural proteins in these systems. Hcp forms hexameric rings that stack to create an inner tube structure essential for translocating effector proteins into target cells. In Bacteroidales, T6SS loci encode multiple Hcp proteins with unknown function. The gut commensal Bacteroides fragilis encodes five Hcp subunits (sHcp and Hcp1-4) that have low sequence similarity. In this study, we investigated the roles of these proteins. Interaction studies showed that sHcp forms homohexamers, which is consistent with a major role of forming the bulk of the inner tube. In contrast, the less abundant minor Hcp1-4 were shown to form an interaction network involving heteromeric complexes. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that Hcp1 and Hcp2 assemble into heterohexamers and that this complex recognizes the secreted effector Bte1. Finally, we showed that Hcp modules, which are encoded in highly syntenic regions in T6SS loci of Bacteroidales, cluster with effectors. These results imply that the minor Hcps genetically cosegregate with cognate effectors, contributing to effector cassette variability. Thus, minor Hcp subunits function as recognition particles for effectors to mediate secretion, which appears to be a conserved trait in Bacteroidales T6SSs. Exploiting these features could facilitate the characterization of unknown effectors by copurifying them with their cognate Hcps. This approach may reveal new insights into bacterial interactions and the mechanisms that establish gut biodiversity.